Transgender Awareness Week Is EVERY Week On TransGriot

Because there are folks in the trans community who believe the Transgender Dy of Remembrance memorial ceremonies are in their words 'too somber', there has been movement over the last few years in several cities that host these TDOR events to host a week of events in the run up to November 20 to educate the cisgender community about our issues, concerns and expose them to our trans world.

Those efforts have led to Transgender Awareness Week. 

The Transgender Awareness Week events can range from trans themed movie nights, lectures, panel discussions, speeches by trans community leaders and elders and debates. 

But why just limit those education and enlightenment efforts to just the week before a TDOR or college campuses?   They can be held at community centers, friendly churches and any venue or room big enough to host them.  

The media that covers us definitely needs that trans 'ejumacation'.  So does law enforcement, the clergy, the legal profession and even our SGL and bi allies.

I submit those trans education efforts are becoming more important because the right wingers are shifting tactics and coming after the trans community with their patented fear, smear and lie tactics.

Yes, those futile efforts to halt the momentum of trans human rights here and around the world will fail, but we will need to do our part to ensure that happens.   One part of that education battle is to do these Transgender Awareness Weeks not only during TDOR, but ensure they happen everyday and everywhere.

Far too many of our own trans people and our allies allies are unaware of our proud history, the trans community's iconic leaders, our trailblazers like Sylvia Rivera and countless others, and the role we transpeople have played in advancing human rights for all people including our own community while fighting a pitched battle to have our own humanity respected and protected.  

Some of those people we know their names, while there are others who fought battles and then faded from the pages of history and we will never know their names, but their contributions were just as valid to enable us to move the trans human rights drive forward to that inevitable civil rights touchdown we will score.  

And yes, I'm proud to have played a role in getting that information and history out there, especially about my own trams community of color.  

I'm also not forgetting about our international trans peeps like Audrey Mbugua, Naomi Fontanos and Victor Mukasa just to name a few who are doing their part to advance the knowledge of trans people and their human rights in their own locales.

Sometimes those trans folks stepping up to lead in other nations are doing so at great risk to their own lives or have sacrificed them to do so like Cynthia Nicole Moreno in Honduras and Agnes Torres Hernandez in Mexico.

I have every intention of continuing to drive home the point that trans rights are an international human rights issue, and will continue to say it as loudly as I can as long as TransGriot exists.  

Transgender Awareness Week is EVERY week on this blog and always will be.

   

Moni's Thoughts About The Trans Inclusive ENDA Passing The Senate

The renaissance of the trans human rights movement in the late 80s early 90's led to our first lobbying foray into Washington DC in 1994.  One of the things we asked for at that time was to have trans people covered in ENDA by adding gender identity language in the bill which the GL community and Gay, Inc. either ignored or was openly hostile to.   

In 1996 a non-inclusive sexual orientation only version of ENDA reached the final vote stage in a GOP controlled Senate and failed 50-49

It took a lot of work and lobbying by myself and a cross section of transpeople since 1994 to get us included in ENDA.  Many of those people who took up that cause are no longer here on this planet or are retired from the movement.  There were some bumps and bruises along the way as we continued the make the argument that ENDA would pass with transpeople in it and 'incremental progress' is unacceptable. 

Yesterday I cried a little when I saw the trans community's nearly two decades of lobbying work vindicated when S.815, the trans inclusive ENDA passed on a 64-32 vote with the support of 10 Republican senators, 2 independents and 52 Democratic senators.

Sen Bob Casey (D-PA) didn't vote because he is away with his wife in Boston who is having surgery to repair a heart valve according to a Washington Post story..

Who were those GOP Ten?    Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH.), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Dean Heller (R-NV), Mark Kirk (R-IL), John McCain (R-AZ.), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA).

Sens. Hatch and McCain were in the Senate during the 1996 ENDA vote and voted NO at that time.  

The 32 ENDA NO votes were all GOP senators, so keep that in mind when they run for reelection in 2014, 2016 or 2018.

We still have much work to do.  It can't become law until it passes the Teapublican controlled House and receives President Obama's signature. 

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is too 'scurred' of the Tea Party to let that bill hit the House floor for a vote it could probably pass because he desperately wants to keep that speaker's gavel.

But before we roll up our sleeeves to do that, we take a moment to savor this legislative win before rolling up our sleeves for the tough battle ahead. 

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions Week 10

This is now officially the worst year I've ever had in NFL punditry.    I had another lousy week in this wild and crazy NFL season in which surreal things have been happening this year.  

That even extends to my fave NFL squad who last week were beating the Colts like a drum 21-3 only to have their head coach have a mini stroke at halftime and subsequently fall victim to another Andrew Luck comeback.

Arrgh.  My frustration over the Texans 2-6 season you can read here.   Since my chance to defend my prognostication title is way over, I'm just aiming lower.  Time to at least shoot for a winning record this week with my NFL picks since there's no way I can make up group on Eli and Mike saddled with a double digit deficit.  

Then again they had a lousy Week 9 too.. So lets get to it.  Teams I'm picking to win in underlined bold print.   Mike's and Eli selections here. 

Week 9 Results
TransGriot      6-7
Eli Blake        5-8
Mike Watts    7-6

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      75-58
Eli                  86-47
Mike              85-48 

NFL Week 10
Bye Week:  Cleveland, Kansas City, New England, NY Jets

Thursday Night Game
Washington at Minnesota

Sunday Noon games
Seattle at Atlanta
Cincinnati at Baltimore
Detroit at Chicago
Philadelphia at Green Bay
St Louis at Indianapolis
Oakland at NY Giants
Buffalo at Pittsburgh
Jacksonville at Tennessee

Sunday Afternoon Games
Carolina at San Francisco
Houston at Arizona
Denver at San Diego

Sunday Night Game
Dallas at New Orleans

Monday Night Game
Miami at Tampa Bay

Trans Inclusive ENDA Faces Key Senate Votes Today

According to my sources on Capitol Hill and the Senate Democrats page, the moves will be made today for final passage of S. 815, the trans inclusive Employment and Non Discrimination Act (ENDA)  

According to the Senate Democrats page, at 11:45 AM EST, there will be two roll call votes in relation to the following:

Toomey amendment #2013 (broadens the number of groups covered under the religious exemption) (60-vote threshold) and (the committee-reported substitute amendment will be agreed to by unanimous consent)

Motion to invoke cloture on S.815, ENDA, as amended 
(TransGriot update: Passed on a 64-34 YEA vote) 

If cloture is invoked, there will be a third roll call vote at 1:45 PM  EST on passage of S.815, ENDA, as amended.

(ENDA passed the final vote 64-32!)

Will history be made today?   You may wish to tune into C-SPAN 2 to find out.

Dynamo Shock Red Bulls, Move To MLS Eastern Conference Finals

When this series started, many pundits didn't give the Houston Dynamo a chance to advance past the Supporters Shield winning and top seeded New York Red Bulls to their third straight MLS Eastern Conference final.  

In many cases you had people openly rooting against the two time defending Eastern Conference champions and that list probably includes MLS Commissioner Dave Garber.

The Red Bulls were rested and finished the season 6-0-2.  The Dynamo had never won at Red Bulls Arena and had been outscored during the regular season in their three losses to the Red Bulls 9-1 with two of those losses happening at BBVA Compass Stadium.   


But this is Dynamo Time, the MLS playoffs, and the Men In Orange just do what they do this time of year.   They kick up their level of play another level and don't stop until they reach the MLS Cup Finals 

After coming back from a 2-0 deficit at BBVA Compass Stadium Sunday to forge a 2-2 tie, they arrived in Harrison, NJ having never beaten the Red Bulls in a playoff game or in this stadium. 

But the top seeded Red Bulls had also never won a playoff game in their home stadium either, so one of these streaks was going to end.  

The Red Bulls initial score happened courtesy of a rare error by Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall in the 23rd minute.  Lloyd Sam hit a cross into the 6 yard box that Hall tried to grab with both hands and pin to the ground.  It squirted out of his grasp and onto the waiting foot of Bradley Wright-Phillips who knocked it into the open net for a 1-0 lead.

In the 36th minute the Red Bulls returned the favor with a giveaway of their own as Ibrahim Sekagya played an ill-advised pass across the top of the Red Bulls’ 18-yard box that an opportunistic Brad Davis picked off before dribbling forward and slotting it home with ease to tie the game at 1-1.

After that it was a series of brilliant Tally Hall saves and a little luck that kept the score knotted up.  A Thierry Henry shot just before halftime redirected by Tim Cahill was parried away by a Hall reaction save. 
A Henry header in the 65th minute hit the crossbar.  He missed a bicycle kick just wide in regulation time. 

But the Dynamo hero once again was Omar Cummings.  In the 104th minute Cummings was the man in the right place at the right time when Cam Weaver's header was blocked by Robles but ended up on Cummings foot that he pushed just past the goal line inside the right hand post past a prone Robles for the 2-1 win.

The 2-1 Dynamo win was not only their first win at Red Bulls Arena and first playoff win against this team, with the 4-3 aggregate score the Dynamo moved on to the Eastern Conference finals for the third consecutive year. 

Take that Dynamo haters.    And sorry Don, no LA-NY MLS Cup final this year either. 

They will face a familiar foe in Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Finals who closed out their series against the New England Revolution with a 3-1 win (4-3 aggregate), which will start on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Post Number 1000 in 2013!

Considering I had an unplanned writing break when Computer Prime had to go to the shop for repairs, the fact I hit 1000 posts this year with over a month to go isn't surprising.  

It;s the fourth consecutive year I've hit this mark since I started the blog in 2006.  I can confidently predict with 2014 being a midterm election year, I won't have any problem reaching that number of posts next year either. 

Thanks once again for all you loyal TransGriot readers around the world who take time out of your busy lives to surf by the blog, read my take on the world around us, get a little knowledge about trans issues, comment, suggest stories, send links to events I may have missed, and even drop a little change in the TransGriot Tip Jar from time to time.

We'll see how many posts I finish the year with..  
 

Cleveland LGBT Group Delivers Letter To Plain Dealer

Many of you TransGriot readers remember how I blasted the unacceptably disrespectful coverage of the Cleveland Plain Dealer aimed at our fallen trans sister Cemia Dove Acoff back in late April.

I was so infuriated by it that I called the piss poor stenography (it didn't deserve to be called reporting) a 'journalistic hate crime'.

A group of concerned Cleveland LGBT citizens also had a problem with the way Cemia was covered in the Plain Dealer at the time and delivered a letter to their newspaper of record at 11:00 AM EST today.

***

November 6, 2013
To the Editor and Staff of The Plain Dealer:

As citizens of Northeast Ohio we are concerned about our city’s image at the local, statewide, national and international levels. We want Cleveland to be recognized as a diverse, inclusive, and respectful community. We know you share these values with us. However, your organization failed to live these values in the April 29th article covering the murder of CeCe Acoff.

We understand the difficulty of gathering information on the life of a murder victim in the days following such a discovery. We appreciate your willingness to remedy those mistakes. However, The Plain Dealer’s published “correction” was derogatory and disparaging of CeCe. It left many in our community deeply offended. CeCe was Transgender. Continuing to refer to her as male in those articles was demeaning and hurtful to those who loved her.

After the much-maligned series of transphobic, insensitive and misleading articles published by The Plain Dealer, the October 29th article announcing the trial of CeCe’s accused murderer, Andrey Bridges, was truly a breath of fresh air. We applaud your decision to follow the court’s lead and respect the deceased’s right to be referenced by her preferred name and gender.

We believe that right now, in Cleveland, this continues to be a teachable moment. We have the opportunity to educate our neighbors, law enforcement officials, and the general public on the central issue: “Who are Transgender people?” Working with Equality Ohio, local LGBT community leaders Phyllis Harris of the Cleveland LGBT Community Center and Jacob Nash of Margie’s Hope met with members of The Plain Dealer editorial board in May. This was an important starting point for discussion.

We are now approaching a significant event within our community. We want to further clarify what it is like to live as a Transgender person. And we need your help. We have three requests of The Plain Dealer as follows:
* inform the public of the Transgender Day of Remembrance prior to its occurrence;
* cover the Transgender Day of Remembrance; and
* publish an article on the Transgender Day of Remembrance after the event.
These are simple requests to fulfill and can be met with both print and online coverage.

We are pleased to see that some of the Plain Dealer journalists reference LGBT community leaders as they research and compose articles covering Transgender and allied communities. We encourage more journalists to make efforts to reflect our community with honesty and respect. The upcoming Transgender Day of Remembrance event offers an opportunity to do exactly that. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual event commemorated worldwide to remember those Transgender individuals who have been killed because of who they were. Coverage of the event by The Plain Dealer will provide a clearer view of the community response to violent acts perpetrated against Transgender people.

This year’s event is scheduled for November 22nd and will be held at Huntington Park at Lakeside Avenue and West 3rd St, beginning at 5:30pm. We would like to see notice of the event on or before November 18th with a follow up article during the weekend of November 23rd. We ask for your help in getting our message out to the larger community so that they may know that we are their friends, their family, their parents, their sisters and brothers.

We are looking forward to working with The Plain Dealer on these projects. We ask that a representative contact Jacob Nash (330-240-1600) no later than Monday, November 11th to gather information for the story about the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Now we'll see what the Plain Dealer's response to the community letter is.  Watch this electronic space..  

It's A Threepeat For Mayor Parker!

For you folks who are coming down to Houston for Creating Change and wondering if Annise will still be in the mayor's chair when you arrive for the start of it January 29-February 2, the answer is yes.

Mayor Annise Parker was challenged by seven opponents, with the lead one being transphobic former city attorney Ben Hall.

She still romped to a convincing 57%-27% reelection win over her closest opponent to remain in our mayor's chair for her third and final two year term.

She continues the distinctions of being our second female mayor and Houston being the largest city in the United States led by an openly gay person. .  

“To the voters of Houston, thank you for renewing your trust in me, in the city, in our ability to come together to work together to continue to make Houston the best city it can possibly be. It is already a great, great international city, but the best can always be better,” said Mayor Parker in her victory speech. 

Unfortunately the news wasn't so good in the City Council at Large Position 3 race for the Houston trans community.

Jenifer Rene Pool missed getting into the runoff against front runner Michael Kubosh by 1125 votes to end her second attempt to become the first open trans person elected to City Council.

No word yet on whether Jenifer is going to attempt another run in the 2015 election cycle. 

The iconic Astrodome is likely headed for demolition as the referendum proposing to spend $217 million to repurpose and refurbish the Dome failed.   Either way it's going to cost Harris County money because demolition of the Eighth Wonder of the World has been estimated to cost $30 million.
 

Naw Don Lemon, I'd Rather Not Be Harassed By The Po-Po's Period

Don Lemon must either love getting called out by Black Twitter for the problematic crap he says, is  angling for a contract on Fox Noise when his current CNN one is up, or is spending too much time after work hanging around with SE Cupp and Erin Burnett.  

In his TJMS radio commentary about today's New York City mayoral election that was also posted on Blackamericaweb.com he parted his lips to say that the choice facing New York City voters concerning the hated stop-and-frisk policy is would you rather be politically correct or safe and alive?

Naw Don, the answer to that question is I'd rather not be harassed by the po-po's period. 

Lemon asserted in his TJMS commentary that there are many among the minority community who believe “in theory” that “we’d rather be inconvenienced by being stopped by police than shot by gun-wielding criminals on the street.” However, Lemon said, it’s become too easy for police to become “so drunk with power that they abuse it.”

If NYPD was searching white people in their neighborhoods the same way they do non-white people, that's the only way I and other African-Americans wouldn't have a problem with Stop and Frisk.   But we know what the reality is.  These stop and frisk searches you're so gung ho about aren't happening in New York's predominately white neighborhoods. . 

But you had a different reaction to stop and frisk in 2001 when it happened to you. You also admitted in the TJMS commentary the other downside to the policy in terms of the all too tempting ability of police officers to abuse it.       

It's obvious to every African-American in New York City and this country except you that stop-and-frisk needs to die.  It was obvious to Federal District Judge Shira Scheindlin who declared it unconstitutional. 

Don, it's not being 'politically correct' to be upset at being unconstitutionally harassed by the police in your own neighborhoods because of a policing strategy that does nothing to lower the city's crime rate, but everything to raise your level of animus and hatred toward the police.   

Trans Pageant Diva Wanted For Silicone Pumping

Armani Nicole Davenport is a two decade decorated veteran of the trans pageant circuits in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. 

She has won a long list of titles that include Miss Black Continental Plus in 2009,  being third alternate at Miss Gay USofA@ Large 2009, Miss Texas FFI at Large 2010 and most recently a third alternate finish at the Miss Gay Texas USof A 2014 pageant in Dallas.

But if New Orleans Police get their way, the only title the Louisiana-born Davenport will be competing for is Miss Imprisoned Pumper 2014.

The New Orleans Police Department have filed a warrant for the arrest of the 32 year old Davenport, who is wanted on a count of negligent injuring in connection with an October 24 silicone pumping that went badly wrong and left a woman in a coma.

A conviction for negligent injuring can carry a maximum fine of $5,000 and a six-month prison sentence.

Davenport is believed to have injected silicone into the hips and buttocks of two unidentified women late last week at a home in Gert Town on that date.

According to a report in the Baton Rouge Advocate, the women voluntarily received hip and buttocks silicone injections at a home in the 1200 block of South Salcedo St. around 1:15 AM.  

One of the women left the home around 3 AM and returned two hours later to find her friend in respiratory distress and called paramedics.   She told them as they took her friend the a nearby hospital that she thought the silicone injections were to blame and someone known to both of them as Armani or Mani from Dallas was the person who administered the injections.

The woman in distress was in critical conditional and comatose when the police report was compiled on October 25.  A friend of the comatose woman stated in a WWL-TV interview that this was the second time in a week she had received a silicone injection. 

Davenport was born in Baton Rouge but is a Dallas resident.  New Orleans PD suspect she may be hiding in the New Orleans area and are asking anyone with information about Davenport’s whereabouts to call New Orleans police detective Ed Johnson at (504) 658-6060 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. 

It's Election Day 2013-Handle Your Electoral Business

It's Election Day in many parts of the country including the Houston area.

Unfortunately I won't be able to participate in today's Houston's city election due to unforeseen complications in getting my TDL combined with the Texas Voter ID Suppression law, but for those of you in the community who can, I urge you to do so. 

And yeah, I'm not only highly pissed off about that revolting development, Republican Party, that pissivity about my electoral voice being silenced for this election cycle guarantees I will be a living embodiment of my personal motto next November.  

What is that personal motto you ask?   Don't get mad at GOP led oppression, do something about it.  

You can bet I'll be the first person in line October 2014 when early voting starts for the midterms next year.  I will be doing my part to turn this state, the governor's mansion, the Texas legislature and the US House blue and keep it that way. 

But back to focusing on Election Day 2013.   

In addition to the Houston mayoral  race in which Annise Parker will be attempting to be reelected to her third and final term as our city's mayor, we have city council elections on the ballot and bond issues on the ballot including whether to spend the money to refurbish and repurpose the nearly half century old Astrodome.

We also have Jenifer Rene Pool attempting to make Houston, Texas and national history by making her second attempt to become the first out transperson elected to public office here in the Houston City Council at Large Position 3 city council race.     

The polls are open, so handle your electoral business if you have the ability to do so.  Because I can tell you from painful personal experience that nothing is more frustrating than wanting to exercise your constitutional right to vote and you can't because of a bull feces laden and racist conservalaw.

Paris Lees Tops Britain's 2013 Pink List!

If it seems like to the rest of the world 2013 has been British trans journalist, advocate and media presenter Paris Lees' breakout year in terms of getting British national and increasing international attention as a voice for the trans community across The Pond, actually it wasn't. 

Lees has been a rising personality in the British trans ranks for several years now as the founding editor of META magazine, Britain's first trans themed magazine, an It Gets Better video, winning a 2012 National Diversity Award , and being an instrumental player in the discussions the British trans community had with Channel 4 that has led to more positive portrayals of transpeople there.



Paris Lees rocky rise to prominence and status as one of the torchbearing voices in the British trans community has gained more cachet as she recently was named to the number one spot in the 2013 edition of The Independent Pink List of 101 influential British TBLG people

And her trans cousins on this side of The Pond couldn't be happier for her.

So what's next for this groundbreaking 25 year trans leader?  Stay tuned, because it's going to be interesting for transpeople on both sides of The Pond and internationally to watch.

ENDA Passes Key Senate Cloture Vote

By a 61-30 margin, the US Senate passed a procedural cloture vote on the trans inclusive Employment and Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) that shuts off the chances of a Republican filibuster and allows debate on the legislation to begin on the Senate floor.

It also increases the changes that ENDA will pass when it comes up for its final vote sometime on Wednesday.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was one of the first people to speak on behalf of this legislation. 




As soon as I get the list of who voted YEA and NAY, I'll add that to this post.   I already know my Texas Senate idiots both voted NAY.

Dynamo Come Back For 2-2 Playoff Game Draw Vs Red Bulls

After sending the Montreal Impact packing on Halloween night, the Houston Dynamo had a bigger challenge to overcome in their quest to threepeat as Eastern Conference Champions and make it to their third consecutive MLS Cup title game. 

They were playing the first leg of their 2013 MLS Eastern Conference semifinal series at BBVA Compass Stadium against a New York Red Bulls Supporter's Shield winning squad that had beaten them three times in the regular season by an combined 9-1 score.   Two of those three wins this season came at BBVA Compass Stadium

And while the Men in Orange and their supporters could take comfort in the fact that the Dynamo are 9-1 all time in H-town during the MLS playoffs, their lone playoff loss was handed to them by guess who, the New York Red Bulls.  
  

Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear left the technical area during that late game melee in the knockout round playoff win against Montreal to keep his players from getting any yellow or red cards that could impact (pun intended) their Eastern Conference semifinal series.  He was assessed a bull feces one game suspension by the MLS Disciplinary Committee which didn't sit well with Dynamo fans.

Anything to get that dream NY-LA MLS Cup final huh, MLS?  

That meant Kinnear was watching from the press box instead of the sidelines when the first leg of this Eastern Conference semifinal series against top seeded New York kicked off.  While they didn't score their first goal seven seconds into the game like they did last month, the Red Bulls did strike first with Tim Cahill taking a Thierry Henry cross from the left side and burying the header past Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall in the 22nd minute.

The Red Bulls expanded their lead 10 minutes later on a counterattack sparked by Henry and Cahill which ended with Eric Alexander faking to his right, turning left past Boswell and then blasting his shot from 14 yards out just inside the near post for a 2-0 lead they took into half time.

The Dynamo dominated possession in the first half and limited the Red Bulls to only two shots on goal, but the only stat that counts is that 2-0 one on the scoreboard.

But as I said earlier, the MLS playoffs are Dynamo Time and they seem to step up their level of play at this time of year.   The Dynamo began their comeback in the 51st minute when Markus Holgersson failed to clear a ball out of the Red Bulls box and it went straight to a waiting Ricardo Clark at the top of the penalty area.  Clark chested down the early Christmas present and blasted a shot through traffic and past New York goalkeeper Luis Robles inside the near post to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Then came the game changing and probably series changing moment as Omar Cummings, who has been saddled with painful injuries for much of this 2013 MLS regular season coming into the game off the bench in the 62nd minute for striker Giles Barnes. 

Cummings has endured three knee injuries, a groin injury, a hamstring injury and an extensive rehab program that kept him in a reserve role, but it was he who would make the Red Bulls feel the pain of his presence in this first leg playoff match. 

Three minutes later Cummings was taken down with a reckless scissor tackle from behind by Red Bulls center back Jamison Olave within referee Ricardo Salazar's line of sight that earned him a no doubt about it red card and an early trip to the locker room.  

In addition to Olave missing Wednesday's return leg, the red card forced the Red Bulls to play the rest of the match with 10 men, and the Dynamo have a season long habit of scoring a lot of late second half goals.

La Naranja are at just the right time regaining their reputation of being dangerous on set piece plays as the agonizing Eric Brunner near miss in the 78 minute was testament to.

Andrew Driver also narrowly missed an equalizing goal in the 81st minute as the Dynamo continued to put pressure on the Red Bulls.

The equalizing goal finally came in the 91st minute.  Brad Davis delivered another one of his brilliant corner kicks that Bobby Boswell got his head on that a diving Robles couldn't control.  Cummings tapped it inside the right post from point blank range past the helpless New York keeper to tie the game.

Two minutes later in stoppage time the Dynamo should have had a penalty shot awarded to win it when Omar Cummings was clearly clipped in the penalty box as he spun away from his defender in preparation to take a shot but Ricardo Salazar didn't see it that way.  But the 2-2 comeback draw with the Red Bulls sent the BBVA Compass crowd home deliriously happy that the Men In Orange defended their home turf and are very much in this series. 

The Dynamo now head to Red Bulls Arena Wednesday to play the second leg of this aggregate goal series.  If the second game is tied after 90 minutes, two 15 minute halves will be played followed by penalty kicks to determine who goes on to face the winner of the Sporting KC- New England Revolution series in the Eastern Conference Finals.

MAJOR! Wins IndieWire's October Project Of The Month!

You helped it reach its $25,000 fundraising goal and exceed it.   You helped it win IndieWire's Project of the Week to put it in the running for October Project of the Month. 

And now, thanks to your help MAJOR!, by a 574-529 margin has won the poll that makes it the IndieWire October Project of the Month!

Annalise and StormMiguel thank you for all your help in achieving this success for the MAJOR! documentary.  In addition to taking another step towards making this documentary film a reality, thy will now receive as a result of the polling victory a creative consultation with the Tribeca Film Institute

And it proves once again the power of collective action when we trans folks pull together to make something positive happen that benefits our community.    

US Senate Vote On Trans Inclusive ENDA Happening Later Tonight

For the first time since November 2007, a vote is scheduled to be taken on The Employment and Non Discrimination Act  (ENDA) later this evening.  

The passage of ENDA by Congress and its subsequent signing into law by President Obama would make it illegal to discriminate against someone in hiring or employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity

This trans inclusive version of the bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)  in the Senate and has the public support of all 53 Democratic senators, both independent Senators and four Republicans.  Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) are ENDA co-sponsors, while Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) voted for it in committee.  Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has indicated he is 'inclined to support the bill' and has a gay son and it true, it would bring the bill to the 60 vote threashold needed to cut off GOP-Tea Party attempts to filibuster it.

The trans community has long and bitter memories of being cut out of ENDA in 2007 by then Rep. Barney Frank in controversial circumstances.  The trans free bill passed the House 235-184 but subsequently died in the Senate    In 1996 another trans free version of ENDA was voted on in the Senate and failed 50-49.

This cloture vote will pave the way for that to happen, with the final vote scheduled to happen sometime on Wednesday.  

We'll have to see what transpires (pun intended) in tonight's vote, but hope we get to witness history.  

2013 Texans Watch-Arrgh, Another Loss

The Texans were on NBC's Sunday Night Football in a pressure packed Battle Red Night matchup against their AFC South rivals the Indianapolis Colts (5-2) at Reliant Stadium.   They had to win this game to have any shot at making the NFL playoffs or else.

Case Keenum was making his second start overall and first in front of the home crowd and didn't disappoint. After taking the opening kickoff on the third play of the game Keenum threw a perfectly placed 62 yard bomb that caught a wide open Andre Johnson in stride for his (unbelievably) first touchdown of the season. 

The Texans built a 21-3 halftime lead as the Keenum to Johnson connection did major damage to the Colts in the first half.  Johnson headed into the locker room after a monster first half with seven catches for 190 yards and three receiving touchdowns. 

As both teams headed to the locker room, Texans coach Gary Kubiak collapsed on the sidelines and was taken to one of the nearby Med Center hospitals for observation.

With Wade Phillips acting as the interim head coach, the Texans pushed the lead to 24-6 before the Colts started making another one of their patented comebacks behind Houston homeboy Andrew Luck.   The Colts scored 21 unanswered second half point to take their first lead with four minutes left in the fourth quarter on a 9 yard Luck pass to TY Hilton.  

Texan kicker Randy Bullock had a chance to send the game into overtime with a 55 yarder on the last play of the game, but missed it wide left for his third missed field goal of the contest and another gut wrenching loss.

Keenum was 24-30 for 350 yards and three TD's with once again ZERO interceptions, but unfortunately the Texans sixth straight loss dropped them to 2-6 and probably for all intents and purposes out of playoff contention.

They head to Arizona next week to play the Cardinals and attempt once again to end the longest losing streak since the rock bottom 2-14 season in 2005. 

Jeri Hughes Running For Gertrude Stein Club Presidency

I've mentioned a few times in my posts about my trips to Washington DC longtime trans activist Jeri Hughes.  When I'm inside I-495 and chilling at her I get the opportunity to have some long and thoughtful conversations about the state of the trans community and countless other subjects with her every time I'm in her presence.

I also know she's proud of living in the District, and I was happy to discover courtesy of an October 31  Washington Blade article that she is running for the presidency of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club when the group holds its officer elections on November 18.   

The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club was founded in 1976 and is the voice for TBLG Democrats in Washington DC.  It is also the founding chapter of the National Stonewall Democrats and according to their website one of the oldest Democratic Clubs inside I-495.

If she is successful, Hughes would become the first trans person to serve as the Gertrude Stein club’s president but wouldn't be the first elected to a leadership position in that organization.   Transgender and Democratic Party activist Julius Agers served as the club’s vice president two years ago.

Best of luck Jeri and hope I have some wonderful history to report on come November 18.

Sally Jessy Raphael 90's Trans Show

During the 90's you could count on during sweeps weeks to see the highly competitive talk show broadcast environment at the time doing shows on trans issues.  And yep, I was videotaping them to watch later when i got home from work.

One of the more respectful ones who broadcast trans themed shows during that period besides Jenny Jones was Sally Jessy Raphael.   This is one entitled 'Beautiful Women Who Have A Secret '

Persian Gulf States Seek To Bar Trans Workers

Remember the post I wrote in July asking where in the world I could travel on a US passport?   

Scratch the Persian Gulf States from that list if a proposed policy is approved to bar trans people from obtaining visas to work in the Persian Gulf States. 

The Gulf Cooperation Council according to the Saudi based Arab News is pondering a proposal by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health tightening genetic tests for immigrant workers in order to prevent transgender migrants from entering the GCC job market.

Tawfiq Khojah, director-general of the Executive Office at the GCC Health Council, said, “The health checklist for migrant workers now contains a mandatory examination to determine gender.”

These constrictions are necessary to 'preserve Islamic principles', he added and will be made in a meeting for the Central Committee for Foreign Workers’ at the Health Council to be held on November 11, Khojah told Arab News.

I don't doubt that part of what's motivating this Kuwaiti proposed policy is a reaction to the flood of trans sex workers entering the conservative leaning Gulf States combined with transphobic attitudes in that country leading to the persecution of Kuwaiti transpeople.

“Undergoing the test will become mandatory for an estimated 289 health centers across the GCC if the Health Council approves the proposal of tighter controls on gender tests for migrant workers. More than 2 million expatriate workers underwent the new gender tests in 2012,” Khojah said.

Youssef Mendkar, director of the Public Health Department at the Kuwait Ministry of Health, confirmed that the proposal aims to prevent transgender migrants from working in GCC countries. The tests determine the gender at birth.

The Kuwaiti backed anti-trans proposal before the GCC is a violation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Yogyakarta Principles.

The transphobic proposal is getting denounced by LGBT human rights advocates such as London based Peter Tatchell and is only adding to the pressure FIFA is getting to pull the 2022 World Cup tournament from Qatar.

"Excluding expat workers because of their gender identity is immoral and doesn't make economic sense," said Tatchell to The Guardian. "People should be employed solely on the basis of their personal integrity and their ability to do the job. Trans people make perfectly good, reliable employees."

The new proposal would also violate FIFA's non-discrimination values and prompts questions about Qatar's hosting of the 2022 tournament, Tatchell said.

"The proposals to test and ban foreign trans employees from the Gulf Co-operation countries will include Qatar and will penalize World Cup construction and hospitality staff from overseas who are trans," he said.

"If these plans get the go-ahead, FIFA should cancel the 2022 World Cup contract on the grounds that Qatar has violated FIFA's non-discrimination values. It should find a new host city for the 2022 tournament. Discrimination against trans people is incompatible with FIFA's commitment to equality for all."

Indeed.  If the Kuwaitis insist on pushing this transphobic policy,, then FIFA needs to yank the 2022 World Cup from Qatar in order to stay true to their anti-discrimination policies.   Good luck on that happening. 

We'll find out what transpires at that November 11 meeting and see if transphobia prevails..